The Liquor Handlers and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) hospitality section stepped in and offered assistance and solidarity to exploited Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) on contract to restaurants in Australia's federal capital city. The LHMU has been praised for helping the guest workers escape from what has been described as slave-like conditions.

OFW Margarito “Gary” Sorrosa reported the
breach of
his job contract to the Australian Department of Immigration (DIMA),
and a witness who has been in the Canberra hospitality industry for
years, supports Sarrosa’s version, even naming the
Immigration official he spoke to. But, DIMA claims to have no knowledge
of Sorrosa’s complaint. As well, Sorrosa alleges, three days
after making his complaint in October last year, his boss and four
other men arrived at his house, forced him into a car and drove him to
Sydney International Airport where they intended to forcibly
‘deport’ him. Fortunately on the way, they were
pulled over for speeding and Sorrosa was able to escape from the car
and tell the police he had been abducted.

Gary Sorrosa is one of about 30 Filipinos issued with overseas
worker
visas for employment in Canberra restaurants as chefs and cooks. A
number of them found they were being underpaid, forced to work long
hours and mistreated by their employers. Some were receiving only half
their contracted wage rate because of unauthorised deductions and
non-payment of Award entitlements. They sought advice from trade union
representatives.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) president Sharan
Burrow
called on the Commonwealth Ombudsman to hold an inquiry into the
Government’s temporary business visa program which it
believes is out of control with around 8,000 temporary business visas
being issued every week.

Burrow said, “the ACTU is astounded by the abject
failure of
the Government to properly assess and supervise the Canberra employers
that sponsored Gary Sorrosa and the other Filipino chefs. Not only have
the Filipino workers been exploited and abused, this alleged kidnapping
attempt indicates that they have been forced to work in an environment
of fear and intimidation. And it is truly shocking that the Government
was unable to protect Gary Sorrosa even after he had made a formal
complaint to both the Department of Immigration and the Philippines
Embassy. The fact that this incident could occur under the very noses
of the Department of Immigration in our national capital shows how
appallingly few protections there are for people from overseas coming
to work in Australia. This incident reinforces the need for an
immediate inquiry. The Howard Government is handing out work visas to
employers willy nilly and then turning a blind eye when guest workers
are abused.”

An Immigration Department spokesman rejected the suggestion,
saying the
program was professionally and competently run.

The ACTU understands that the Australian Federal Police is
still
investigating Mr Sorrosa’s kidnapping allegations and calls
on the AFP to speed up their investigations and ensure that justice is
done.

Journalists from a mainstream Manila television station
travelled to
Canberra to interview the workers who say they were brought to
Australia under false pretences and ruthlessly exploited by using
federal Section 457 visas.

They spoke of gross underpayments; contracts being
unilaterally changed
after arriving in Australia; Human rights abuses; being threatened with
deportation if they stand up for their rights; and having all sorts of
illegal deductions taken from their weekly earnings.

Donabella Cruz, a chef from Manila, told the media she was
shocked and
angered by her treatment in Australia. “The fact that I and
my colleagues have been bought, sold and traded like some cheap
commodity is extremely upsetting,” she said. “It
makes me feel like some cheap manual labour device to be used, abused
and then discarded.”

Donabella Cruz and other Filipino guest workers came to the
LHMU and
asked the union to help them escape their predicament. Several of them
have joined the LHMU to organise a public campaign to fight against
their exploitation. The campaign has received wide¬spread
community and media support in Canberra, across Australia and now even
in the Philippines.

“This issue is no longer about skill
shortages,”
LHMU ACT Secretary Gil Anderson said. “Greedy employers are
dudding good, skilled guest workers to make extra profits —
banking on the fact that they will be too scared to fight for their
rights. The federal government is driving the process and the
Immigration Department doesn’t seem to care. If we are going
to look after these people, and protect our own living standards, we
have to stand side–by–side with these guest
workers.”

“These workers were promised decent jobs and wages
when they
left the Philippines but after they were brought out to Australia they
found they were being underpaid, abused and sometimes living in quite
cramped conditions. At one point there were seven people living in a
two bedroom flat in Narrabundah,” Gil Anderson said.
“Some were sleeping on the floor. When these workers decided
to come to the union to support them, as they stood up for their human
rights, the boss threatened to put them on the next plane back to the
Philippines.”

LHMU ACT has raised these matters directly with the Department
of
Immigration, the Department of Workplace Relations and the ACT Human
Rights Office.

Several government departments are now investigating some six
restaurants in Canberra with a view to possible prosecution over the
treatment of these guest workers.

The union has received support from responsible employers, the
community and local politicians like Senator Kate Lundy.